Telangana High Court Sends Notices to Naveen Mittal

Hyderabad:Two separate single-judge benches of the Telangana High Court on Thursday issued separate notices to senior IAS officer Naveen Mittal, in regarding to his issuance of a no-objection certificate (NOC) to declare evacuee property as non-evacuee property to some applicants in Nanalnagar, Gudimalkapur, when he was the Hyderabad district collector.

Evacuee property refer to land left behind by individuals who migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. They have been a subject of controversy and legal battles. These properties are governed by the Evacuee Property Act, 1950.

Petitioner Shanti Agarwal had filed two separate petitions before the High Court, challenging the inaction of the government in prosecuting Mittal though the High Court had pointed to his conduct in issuing the NOC.

She had requested the Chief Secretary for sanction for prosecution under Section 197 of the CrPC on 26.4.2024. The Chief Secretary neither rejected nor gave sanction for prosecution in spite of the three-month deadline on such petitions, mandated by the Supreme Court of India in the ‘Vineet Narian’ case. This was the subject matter of one of the petitions.

She filed another petition challenging the decision of the trial court, which kept the recording of cognisance against Mittal and other public servants in abeyance for want of sanction to prosecute them under Section 197 CrPC.

Agarwal, who was aggrieved with the issuance of the NOC to a third party, alleged that Mittal, in criminal collusion with the other accused, had reportedly created fake and fabricated documents. He had allegedly issued the NOC with false recitals, even to the extent of recording the objections of the complainant.

Agarwal stated that she was not even issued notice to record her objections. Mittal then proceeded to declare the title and possession of the NOC applicants, the petitioner alleged.

The entire exercise was to declare the subject land in Survey No. 284/6, Nanalnagar, as non-evacuee property, so that the title of the complainant became untenable; she was claiming her title through GO No. 388 dt. 20.12.1954 declaring the subject property as evacuee property.

These two petitions were heard by two separate single-judge benches, one headed by Justice K. Lakshman and the other Justice N. Tukaramji seperately. In the two cases, the benches issued notices to Mittal and the others.